No Longer That Girl
by celtic-flicka
Summary: Lilly survives the attack from Aaron and goes off to Hearst with the rest of the gang—and gets the attention of Piz. Written a long time ago for a "Lilly Lives" writing challenge, and in response to a conversation with a friend about how we wished the Piz character had been more than just an obstacle to L/V. AU (obviously). Followed by a sequel, "The Things Guys Will Say."
1. Chapter 1

"Dude, she slept with her boyfriend's dad!"

"That doesn't make her a bad person."

"The way I see it, it kinda does."

Wallace sighed, clearly trying not to be too annoyed at having to provide this explanation again. "The way I see it is that it makes her a naïve 16-year-old who got taken advantage of by a skeevy 40-something movie star," he stated.

"…who was also her boyfriend's father," Piz argued. "Did she think there was any way that would end well? It was nasty, and seriously stupid."

"Teenagers do stupid shit all the time."

"Not that stupid…"

"Well, no, but still—her friends and her ex-boyfriend have forgiven her, so I think everyone else needs to lay off. The girl made a mistake—a big mistake—but it's in the past."

Piz considered that for a moment. He'd only known his roommate since the day before, but Wallace seemed like a smart, even-tempered guy—who apparently had some really wild friends. "I'll take your word for it."

"You should!" Wallace said with a grin. "They're two of my best friends, so when they show up, just pretend they're any other college girls who you haven't seen on the cover of the _National Enquirer_."

Piz shook his head and laughed. "Why did I come to Neptune again?"

A light knock on the door brought Wallace to his feet. "Because the weather in Oregon sucks?" he said as he walked across the room.

The door swung open and Piz found himself being stared down by two pairs of blue eyes: one piercing and intelligent, the other twinkling with mischief. Both looked him up and down briefly before turning their attentions to his roommate.

"Hey, Supafly." The first girl winked and smiled at Wallace.

"Wallace, _mon cher_!" squealed the second, as she stepped through the doorway and kissed Wallace on both cheeks.

"How was Paris?" he asked, returning the smooches.

"Fabulous!" Piz's eyes followed the girl as she twirled into the room. She was beautiful, and she seemed to be very aware of that fact. "I've been before, but never without Celeste. Now I understand what all the fuss is about."

She stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. "Sorry my flight was delayed so we couldn't hang out before school started. I missed my Papa Bear."

Piz snorted.

"Oh, hey—Veronica Mars, Lilly Kane, this is my roommate, Stosh Piznarski," Wallace said.

"Everyone calls me Piz," Piz added.

Both girls smiled in greeting.

"Veronica's a freshman too, but Lilly transferred here from Boston College."

"Boston?" Piz was impressed. "Why did you come back to Hearst?"

"Well, first off, East Coast weather sucks," Lilly said with a dramatic slump of her shoulders. "But also, the BC administration wasn't interested in giving me course credit for attending frat parties, so I was, shall we say, asked to reevaluate my academic plans."

Veronica and Wallace rolled their eyes at their friend. "So who else is coming?" Wallace asked.

"Mac is currently acing her job interview at the computer center, so she'll catch up with us later," Veronica explained. "And Logan is just going to meet us there."

Piz's eyes widened at the mention of Aaron and Lynn Echolls' son, and Wallace kicked him lightly in the ankle.

"You're coming too, aren't you Piz?" Lilly batted her eyelashes.

"I, um…"

"Of course you are." She linked her arm through his and began dragging him out the door. "Let's go, kids!"

* * *

When Wallace had first told Piz about his famous—and infamous—friends, Piz couldn't see himself hanging out with them. But since he'd gotten to know them, he'd discovered that he liked them.

Veronica was smart as a whip, Logan was really funny (especially when his snarky comments weren't directed at you), and Lilly was a force of nature. They were nothing like the characters portrayed in the media few years earlier…

…well, Lilly was, somewhat. She looked different, with her darker hair and soft bangs, but she still often acted like the 16-year-old "wild child" he'd seen on "Tinseltown Diaries."

She laughed too loud, talked incessantly, and sometimes was just a little too…much. Piz liked her sometimes, but other times he found her act kind of annoying. He wondered if perhaps she was trying too hard and asked Wallace as much, but was told, "That's just Lilly."

One Saturday morning, Piz woke up earlier than he intended to, and decided to use the time to hit the library and pick up the books he would need for his English paper. When he walked into the fiction section, he stopped suddenly as his breath caught in his throat.

Lilly was sitting alone at one of the reading tables, with an enormous book open in front of her. Her fists were stacked one on top of the other, and she rested her chin on them as she peered down at the pages. Her light-brown hair was yanked back in a messy ponytail, and the sun coming through the window behind her lit up all the wisps that didn't make it into the rubberband. She wore no makeup—in fact, the only thing on her face was a pair of glasses with thick brown frames. Piz thought she'd never looked prettier.

His musings were interrupted when her eyes flicked up and met his. She pursed her lips into a tiny smile.

"Checking me out, Piznarski?" she said, sitting back in her chair. "It's OK, I know I look hot. Just try to restrain yourself."

Piz chuckled as he walked over to her table and sat across from her. "Actually, I, um, was just thinking that you…you looked really cute like that. I like your specs. Although I think your sweatshirt is about 12 sizes too big."

"It's Duncan's—finders keepers." She flashed a broad grin as she pushed up the long sleeves. "Actually, I just had to get out of the manse in a hurry, so I didn't have time to put in my contacts and all that. Celeste is having some sort of garden party thing and she found out this morning that _In Style_ was coming, so she couldn't have the Kane family black sheep around for that. She sent one of the fucking housekeepers in to wake me up and kick me out."

"She sounds like a warm and lovely woman."

"You have no idea. I wanted to get an apartment this year, but I didn't want to live by myself, and Ronica wanted to stay with her dad. And let's face it, if she moves in with anyone, it's gonna be Logan." She rolled her eyes with a huff.

"You don't approve?"

"I do—they're good for each other. But the love-fest can be a little tiresome. I never thought I would say this, but God—get a room!"

Piz smirked and nodded in agreement.

"I just sometimes feel like a pesky little sister tagging along their dates, and it would only be worse if I lived with Veronica. You just know they'd be sucking face on the couch all the time."

"What about your other friends?"

Lilly shrugged. "Well, since you stole Wallace away from me…"

"Hey, baby, it's not like that." Piz threw his hands up in surrender. "I swear, we're just friends."

She laughed out loud, garnering a glare from the student at the help desk. "See? I'm in trouble again," she whispered, pushing her glasses to rest on top of her head. As she did, the left earpiece pushed her bangs back, revealing a jagged pink scar slicing through her hairline just above her temple. Piz tried not to gape, but Lilly noticed.

"Nice, huh?" She brushed her bangs back into place. "My little memento from Aaron Echolls."

"It's not that bad," Piz lied. "And you look good in bangs." At least that part was the truth.

She smiled sadly. "My parents said I could get plastic surgery to make it less noticeable, but I'm not too jazzed about being knocked out for any reason. Three weeks of unconsciousness was enough for one lifetime, thanks. Bangs are just easier."

"I—" Piz began, then clamped his mouth shut.

"What?"

"OK, I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid it might be too intrusive."

Lilly squinted at him and folded her arms in a mock accusation. "Are you sure you're not really with _US Weekly_?"

"Um, nooo." Piz looked around shiftily. "And my pen isn't really a recording device…"

She pretended to inspect the pen, holding it up to the light. "Fine—ask away," she said with a smile as she dropped the pen back onto the table.

"Was it really freaky to wake up after all that time without realizing it had passed?" Piz leaned forward excitedly. "Like when people get frozen in sci-fi movies or whatever?"

Lilly clamped her lips together to avoid bursting into laughter and getting scolded by the library staff again. Her shoulders shook for a minute as she pulled herself together. "Out of all the weird questions I've been asked about this, that is definitely the weirdest."

"Come on! You close your eyes, and when you open them, poof! You're in the future! That's freaky, right?"

"There weren't any flying cars or replicators in the future I woke up to," she said, choking down a laugh. "But it was kinda freaky, yeah. A whole lotta shit went down in those few weeks. I didn't even remember getting hit, but I wake up in the hospital and find out that my boyfriend's dad tried to kill me, my brother almost got blamed for it, and my sweet, innocent best girlfriend was the one who got the evidence to lock up the bad guy. I felt like I'd gone down the rabbit hole."

"I bet—it was wild just seeing it unfold on TV."

"The one good thing about being out all that time was that it gave everyone time to get over being pissed at me," Lilly said quietly. "By the time I came around, they were so glad I wasn't a vegetable that they forgave all the stupid shit that got me knocked out in the first place."

"Teenagers do a lot of stupid things—they don't deserve to get killed for them."

Lilly gave him a weak smile. "You've been talking to Wallace."

"Well, yeah, but I think he's right. You got taken advantage of by someone who was old enough to know better," Piz said, finding himself growing a little angry at the imprisoned Aaron Echolls.

"I guess," she said noncommittally. "I'm just glad that at least my old friends think that way."

"Hey, your new friends too!" Piz pretended to be offended. She glanced up at him as he threw his arms out wide. "Come on, I'm awesome!"

Lilly giggled, and an awkward silence fell over them.

"So, what in God's name is this huge book you're undertaking at this early hour?" Piz asked in a change of subject.

She flipped up the cover so he could see the title. " _Ulysses_. It's for my Modernist lit class."

"Wow—they're really tossing you into the deep end, huh?"

"Yeah, but I like it. I think I want to change my major to English, but my dad really wants me to be a business major."

"The business classes aren't going well?"

"They're fine—I got mostly As and Bs at Boston, but I just didn't get into it the way my brother does." She patted the book in front of her. "This I like."

"Hmm," Piz said, thinking. "Well, your dad sounds a lot nicer than your mom, so I'm sure he'll just want whatever will make you happy."

"I hope so," Lilly said. "I just don't want to disappoint him…"

Another group of students took over the table next to them. "Hey, can we take some of these chairs?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Piz said before turning back to Lilly. "I just have to pick up a couple of books and then I was going to go have breakfast. You want to come?"

Lilly looked down at her grubby clothes.

"Come on, Four Eyes," he teased. "If Celeste kicked you out, I'm betting she didn't give you time to eat."

"OK," she said, sliding her glasses back down onto her face. "This will be my secret identity: Lilly Kane, Serious Student."

Piz held a finger to his lips. "I won't tell anyone who you really are," he whispered.

* * *

Later that night, Piz found himself holding up a wall at a dull frat party, with a watered-down drink in his hand. The girls had left to go to a midnight movie, and while he was sometimes glad for the break from Lilly, tonight he was surprised to find that he missed her bubbly presence—even though the overly made-up party girl who had showed up at the party was a far cry from the bespectacled young woman he chatted with in the library that morning.

With a bored sigh, he put his cup down and went to find his roommate and tell him he was leaving. When he approached Wallace, he was just snapping his phone shut.

"Hey, I was just going to come find you," Wallace yelled over the music. "We gotta go!"

"What's up?"

"That was Mac. The girls are at the hospital—Parker was attacked!"

"I'll drive," Piz said, grabbing for his keys. "My car is just around the corner."

Wallace hadn't been able to hear the details over the noise of the party, so by the time he and Piz ran up to Mac and Veronica in the emergency department, he was frantic.

"Girl, what the hell is this about you guys going after the rapist?" he demanded of Veronica. "Why didn't you call us if there was trouble?"

"We didn't go looking for the guy—he was in their room!" Veronica fumed, pointing at Mac.

"Hey, don't fight about this," Mac said firmly, putting a hand on Veronica's shoulder and pulling her back slightly. "This night has been hard enough as it is."

"What happened?" Piz asked. "Where's Lilly?"

"She's giving her statement to the police now." Mac pointed a thumb back over her shoulder. "Parker is being examined, but she's still out."

"We think she was dosed with GHB like those other girls," Veronica added.

"Holy shit," Wallace breathed. He pulled her toward him and gave her a hug. "Are the rest of you OK?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Veronica's voice broke slightly as she and Wallace pulled apart. "Parker's hair is pretty fucked up, but it looks like that's the worst that happened. Lilly found her just in time."

"How did it happen?" Piz asked, looking past them to see if Lilly was coming back yet.

"We had to go back to Mac's room because we forgot the tickets there, but it sounded like Parker was in there with a guy," Veronica began to explain.

"V and I were too embarrassed to go in, but of course, Lilly just threw the door open and flipped the light on," Mac continued. "She thought it would be funny to surprise them."

"And thank God she did, because Mercer Hayes was in there and he had just started shaving Parker's hair off!" Veronica added. "Lilly started yelling at him, so I ran in and tasered him."

The story was interrupted when Logan burst through the doors at a dead run. "What happened? Is everyone OK?" he shouted as scooped Veronica into his arms. When Piz saw the panicked yet weary look on his friend's face, he was suddenly grateful for his utterly average middle-class upbringing in Beaverton. He decided he had to stop rolling his eyes at his mom's long stories about the bathroom remodel.

"I'm fine—we're fine." Veronica pulled Logan aside. "Come here and I'll tell you the whole story." She looked meaningfully at Mac. "Tell them the rest."

"There's more?" Wallace asked incredulously.

Mac looked over her shoulder before continuing. "So after Veronica zapped Mercer, he was totally unconscious. She gave him the full voltage."

"Good," Wallace said firmly.

"Well, yeah, but then once he was out, Lilly beat the shit out of him," Mac said.

"Good!" Wallace said again.

"You guys, I'm telling you, she seriously went crazy," Mac said, lowering her voice. "I didn't see all of it because I was checking on Parker, but Veronica was pretty upset. She said she'd never seen her like that." She looked behind her again before going on. "You guys, Mercer isn't in lockup—he's here. In the hospital. She was punching and kicking—she stomped his face so bad that he's in surgery."

The guys didn't have time to react to that news before they saw Lilly coming down the hall.

"There are my other two Angels!" She held her hands like a gun and struck a pose. "Sabrina, Kelly, and I make quite a crimefighting team, don't we?"

"You're Jill then?" Piz asked.

"Duh—of course I'm Jill," Lilly replied as she threw her arm over Mac's shoulders.

"Are you OK, Lill?" Piz asked gently.

"I'm fine!" she answered, slapping him lightly on the arm. "I'm not the one who got attacked with a Remington. We're gonna have to take Parker to my mom's salon tomorrow and get her a cool cut to cover that up."

Logan and Veronica returned to the group. "The cops said that anyone could leave after they gave their statements," Logan said, rubbing his hair agitatedly.

"I'm staying here with Parker," Mac said. "She needs to have someone she knows with her when she wakes up."

"I'll stay too," Wallace volunteered. Before Mac could protest, he added, "If you're taking care of Parker, then someone needs to take care of you. No arguments."

He held his hand up and Mac smiled gratefully.

"OK, then I'll take Veronica and Lilly home," Logan said. Piz noted that he looked more shaken than if he'd witnessed the attack himself.

"Why don't I drive Lilly?" Piz suggested. "That way, you can just take Veronica straight home."

"Are you sure?" Logan asked. "I can…I mean, it's no big…"

"Logan. Take Veronica home," Piz said seriously.

Logan let out a deep breath. "OK, yeah. Thanks, man."

"Then it's settled. Mac, Wallace, call us if there's any news," Veronica said as they left the hospital.

* * *

After they parted ways with Veronica and Logan in the hospital parking garage, Lilly became uncharacteristically quiet.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Piz finally asked, breaking the silence.

She let out a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm OK. That was just…kinda scary. But I'm fine…"

Piz reached for her hand and ran his thumb lightly over the bruises that were starting to form on her knuckles.

"We heard what happened—after Veronica tasered the guy."

She pulled her hand away. "That I kicked a rapist in the balls? Did he not deserve that?"

"He totally deserved that, and more," Piz agreed. "But it sounds like, um, maybe there was something more going on there?" She scoffed. "Lill, you put a guy in the hospital!"

Lilly looked straight ahead at the road in front of them. "Don't psychoanalyze me," she spat. "It was nothing like that. I saw a guy trying to hurt one of my friends and I got angry. I may have gone a little overboard, but I don't care. He can't hurt people like that and get away with it!" Her hands were clenched in her lap and her voice began to rise. "If we hadn't walked in there, he would have hurt her and messed her up for the rest of her life! You can't just do that to someone. That's bullshit!"

She punched the dashboard with one of her battered fists. "Ow!" she screamed, before bursting into tears. "Goddamnit…"

Piz quickly pulled the car over. "Come here." He reached across the seat and wrapped his arms around her. At first, he tried to think of something helpful to say, but then decided that he needed to just let her cry.

After the front of Piz's t-shirt was sufficiently dampened, Lilly pulled away slowly, wiping under her eyes with her fingertips.

"Thanks," she sniffled. "Sorry to freak out on you like that."

"Hey, you have every reason to be upset about what happened tonight, even if you hadn't… you know…"

"Yeah, I guess," she said. "It's getting really late—or early, you could say. You should take me home so you can get back and get some sleep."

"Are you sure you want to go back to your house?" Piz asked as he started the car again. "Is anyone home? Like, besides staff?"

"Celeste is around, but she's probably asleep, and I'm not ready to tell her about this anyway," Lilly scoffed. "She's going to be thrilled when she finds out that I'm a witness in another criminal case. The media firestorm strikes again."

"At least this time, you're going be the big hero." Piz's hand traced an imaginary headline in the air. "I can see it now: 'Neptune's Former Bad Girl Turns Badass!'"

Lilly giggled. "I could live with that. Maybe I'll get a cape—with coordinating ones for Veronica and Mac!"

"I'll keep that in mind at Christmas time."

He stopped his tiny car at the monolithic gates to the Kane estate and Lilly leaned out the window and waved to the security camera. "Hi, Ken!" The gate opened with a loud k-chung.

"You'll really be OK here by yourself?" Piz asked as he pulled up the long driveway. "I mean, I'm sure Ken is great company, but…"

"Actually, my dad is on the East Coast this week, so he might actually be up by now. I can call him," Lilly said. "Hey! Maybe this would be a good time to tell him about changing my major: 'Hi Dad, I survived a run-in with a serial rapist, and oh, by the way, I hate my business classes.'"

Piz laughed. "Forget English—you should go into PR. That is some excellent spin right there."

"Thank you," Lilly said with a slight bow. "Well, I'd better go in. Thanks for taking me home—I'm glad it was you." She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're such a nice guy."

"I'll see you later—give me a call if you need to," he replied. "And take care of your hands."

Lilly hopped out of the car and jogged up to her front door. Piz waited until she was safely inside before pulling away. While he paused for Ken to open the gate again, he went over their conversation in his mind, wondering if she really was going to be OK or if she was just telling him what he wanted to hear. He recalled her last words to him, and suddenly he was annoyed with himself for the selfish thought that popped into his head.

 _'You're such a nice guy'? Great,_ he thought with a sigh as he headed back toward campus. _That always works out well for me…_


	2. Chapter 2

Given the long night they'd had, everyone slept in until at least noon the following day. Mac texted everyone to say that Parker was back in their room and doing fine, but Piz didn't have any other contact with his friends except Wallace.

He lived with Wallace, Mac lived with Parker, and Veronica and Logan were likely together, but Piz realized that Lilly might be alone for the day—or worse, with her mother. After mulling over the idea of calling or texting her, Piz decided against it because he didn't want to be a pest.

The following day he was waiting in line at the food court when he felt someone bump the back of his knee, making it almost buckle beneath him.

"What the—" He spun around to find Lilly looking pleased with herself. "Oh, hi. Hey, you're wearing your glasses in public. Bold choice—I like it."

"Well, a cute boy told me I looked good in them," she said, tapping the frames with her index finger. "So how was the rest of your weekend after your exciting Saturday night?"

"A lot less exciting, fortunately. Wallace and I played some Xbox and then I read up for philosophy. Barely left the room except to eat. How, um…how are you doing?"

"You know something?" Lilly replied, more seriously than she usually did. "I'm actually OK, I think. I called my dad to tell him about what happened, and we ended up having a really good talk. I did tell him about changing my major." They sidestepped along the counter and placed their orders.

"You did? Please tell me you didn't say it like you did in the car."

She laughed, nudging his arm with her shoulder. "No, not like that. We were on the phone for a long time—I think he postponed a meeting, which was cool. But we talked about a lot of different stuff, so I decided it was as good a time as any to bring up the fact that I wanted to switch. He said I should major in whatever I liked to study—he told me he majored in anthropology in college! I never knew that."

"So my future degree in music theory still has the potential to bring me millions? Sweet." The woman behind the counter handed them their plates.

"Huh—the salad looks less wilted than usual," Lilly commented as she inspected her lunch.

"I wish I could say that about the chicken burgers." Piz made a face at his food, then began scanning the room for an empty table. "There's a…"

"Wallace! Darling!" Lilly shouted perkily as their mutual friend entered the food court. Wallace waved back in greeting and Lilly fluttered off in his direction. Piz sighed as he followed.

* * *

As the weekend drew near, Piz couldn't decide if he was looking forward to going out with his friends or not. He was intrigued by—and attracted to, if he was going to be honest with himself—the version of Lilly Kane that seemed to emerge when they were alone, so her antics when the whole group was together were growing increasingly irritating. He wondered whether he even wanted to go out that night when he heard the rat-a-tat-tat of Lilly's rings on his door.

"Come on in, guys!" he called.

The door swung open and Lilly flounced in. "Just 'guy' tonight," she said flopping down onto Wallace's bed. "I'm going stag—my dates blew me off. Veronica fed me some line about helping Logan write a paper, but I know that really means 'hot monkey sex.'"

Piz blushed.

"Come on, you know I'm right. How can they think we haven't cracked that code?" she smirked. "Plus, I heard them bickering about something stupid this afternoon so I predicted I'd get ditched for makeup sex."

"Looks like we both got ditched then," Piz said. "Wallace and Mac are both blowing us off for last-minute dates too. One of the cheerleaders asked Wallace to a jock party, so of course, that's where he is."

"Nice," Lilly said approvingly.

"…And Mac has her eye on a guy in the animal-rights club, so she's at some protest thing with them and Parker's going with her to be her wingman."

"Wingwoman," Lilly corrected.

"So anyway, it's just us, I guess, so if you don't want to…I mean, if you just…"

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this, Stosh Piznarski," Lilly said sternly as she stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I drove all the way home to change my clothes to go out tonight, so we are going out. And with Ronica gone, we can eat something other than Italian. Oo! Let's go to that Chinese place!" She folded her hands as if she were begging.

"OK, Chinese it is," Piz said. "It's a nice night—let's just walk there."

"Walk?" she whined.

"You spend all those hours on the treadmill and you're going to complain about walking six blocks?" He shook his head. "You Southern Californians…"

Lilly sighed dramatically. "Fine, if I must." She jumped off the bed, grabbing Piz's hand and pulling him out of his chair. "And I have my dad's credit card, so it's Jake's treat," she added with a grin.

The pair made small talk as they made their way off campus and onto the streets of downtown Neptune. Piz told Lilly about his contacts at the campus radio station.

"What kind of show would it be?" she asked.

"A call-in show. Um, you know, political affairs, cultural affairs... whatever affairs. Witty, smart, go crazy. It's like Jon Stewart meets _Crossfire_ , if Jon Stewart didn't hate _Crossfire_."

Lilly laughed. "If it works out, I promise I'll listen to it. I need to know more about…whatever affairs."

Piz shoved his hands into his pockets. "So—what's going on with the English major? Are you going to drop the business courses?"

"Nah," she said, shaking her head. "I talked to my counselor and we decided I might as well finish those up since my grades are decent. I've gotta keep all my credits so you freshie losers don't catch up to me." She gave him a light shove with her elbow.

"So, um…" Piz began.

Lilly saw the look on his face. "Is this another intrusive question? Do you have your recording pen on you again?" she teased.

"Yeah…I mean, no…I mean, yes about the question, no to the pen."

"OK, go ahead. For you, I'm an open book." She put her hands to her heart.

"Well, it's just that…OK, you said when we first met that basically, you partied too hard at BC and flunked out," Piz said slowly, "but at the library that time, you said you got As and Bs there. And you must have done all right, because after a year there, you're a sophomore here so you must have gotten all of your credits."

Lilly didn't respond.

"OK, never mind, too nosy. I'm sorry, I shouldn't—"

"I hated being Lilly Kane there," she blurted out.

Piz stopped walking. "What?"

"By the time I left for college, most of the people at Neptune High didn't care about the Aaron thing anymore," she said. "I mean, there were still people who didn't talk to me, but basically, it was old news. But when I got out of this town, I was still 'Teen Slut Lilly Kane.' Every time I walked into a room, everyone stopped talking and stared. You could practically hear the needle scratch, like in the movies."

Piz felt guilty about the things he'd said about Lilly before he'd met her. "Maybe once they got to know you…"

Lilly turned and began walking again, and Piz jogged a few steps to catch up. "That's what I thought—that's why I stayed for the second semester," she said. "I figured it might get better, that the novelty would wear off, but it didn't. None of the girls wanted to be friends with me, and any guys who wanted to date me just thought I was easy. One guy actually brought up Aaron on our first date! How gross is that?"

"Oh, God."

"Yeah—I think he wanted to see what all the fuss was about," she continued. "The fuck that got Aaron Echolls thrown in jail."

Piz tentatively put a hand out and rubbed her shoulder, then shoved it back in his pocket.

"The last straw was when I overheard my roommate leaving a message for some reporter at _The Star_. It sounded like she was going to get a big payday for giving them an exclusive on me—not like there was anything to tell, since I had no social life. That's why I did so well in my classes. " She laughed dryly. "Anyway, one call from the Kane family lawyers put a stop to her plan, but it made the last month of school uncomfortable, to say the least."

"Then I guess it's not such a big deal that Wallace always leaves his basketball shoes in the middle of the floor where I trip on them?" Piz replied with a tiny smile.

She giggled. "Wallace is the best—I seriously would have gotten an apartment with him if Alicia wouldn't have had a heart attack about it."

"She doesn't like you?"

"No, she just wouldn't want him living with a girl," Lilly explained with a slight eye-roll. "She's such a mom. Alicia and I actually get along great—I think she's trying to give me the mothering that Celeste doesn't, which is cool. I'd take her over Celeste any day. Wallace's mom can forgive, but my own mother is still mad at me for what happened. Everyone else in Neptune is over my big _scandale_."

"So that's why you came back here," Piz added. Lilly nodded.

"Then why can't you just tell your friends that?" he continued as they entered the restaurant.

Lilly was silent as they made their way to a table. Once they were settled, they perused their menus quietly, speaking only to discuss their dinner choices. After the server took their orders, Piz leaned forward on his elbows.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Why haven't you told anyone else about why you really came back to Neptune?" She looked uncomfortable, and he impulsively took her hand in his, sure to be gentle with her fading bruises. "It just seems like you've a lot of stuff going on, and I'm the only one you can tell. I mean, I really like talking to you, and you can tell me anything. I totally mean that." He looked her directly in the eyes. "But I notice that the only one you seem to be able to confide in is the one who didn't know you in high school."

Lilly gave his hand a squeeze. "You really should get that radio talk show. If you need any references…"

The waitress brought their drinks and appetizer, forcing them to let go of each other's hand.

"I've just put those guys through a lot," she continued, picking at pot sticker. "I can't lay all this crap on them too."

"You yourself said that most people around here don't care about your past anymore," Piz pointed out. "I'd think your friends would be the most understanding."

"How much more can I ask them to understand?" Lilly asked. "What I did with Aaron was bad enough, but then I got hurt and they all had to wait for weeks to find out if I was going to wake up. And then Veronica and Logan and my brother stuck with me through all the rehab and recovery stuff—Duncan is the only reason I didn't have to repeat my junior year. I'm not sure why he had to take his junior year at all, when he'd already done all the reading."

She laughed sadly. "And when I finally got back to classes, anyone who tried to give me shit had to answer to Veronica and Logan, and they make a pretty tough team. This one bitchy cheerleader wrote 'whore' on my locker, and the next day, her tires got slashed and her hair turned blue from something in her shampoo…"

"What about Wallace?" Piz interjected. "He wasn't even in Neptune for all of that."

"Yeah, but he knew about me before he got here, and he accepted me purely on Veronica's say-so. Mac did too," Lilly said. She paused when the server brought them their food, but instead of picking up her chopsticks, she continued.

"I owe it to them to be normal," she said. "They've all spent a lot of time and energy worrying about me, and they've been there for me when no one else was. I just want to show them I can be the same as I was before."

"Who's the same now as they were three years ago?" Piz asked with a goofy shrug. "From what you've told me, Veronica has changed a lot since your…accident. And I can't imagine that Logan's the same guy he was before his dad went to prison. Look at me—my biggest childhood trauma was being only five feet tall when I started high school, but I'm not the same as I was three years ago."

Lilly guffawed. "Five feet? Aw, that's so cute! You were Veronica-sized! I want to see pictures."

"Hey, we're talking about your baggage, not mine. But really—you don't have to try and live up to some image from your past. Just be—whoever you are now. Personally, I like this Lilly Kane." Piz pointed at her with a chopstick.

She smiled shyly. "Yeah? It's not just when I'm wearing glasses?"

"Well, the glasses are hot. I think I've made my feelings clear on that issue." Piz felt his face grow warm. "B-b-but y'know, Veronica and Wallace already worry about you sometimes, and I think they'd actually worry a little less if you let them see the real you now."

Lilly looked intently at her plate for a few minutes. "You may be right about that," she finally said. "There's only so long I can keep this up. My 16-year-old self is exhausting."

"It's probably because you don't eat anymore," Piz replied with a playful scowl. "Jake's paying good money for that kung pao chicken and you're letting it get cold!"

She smiled and dug into her dish. "I'm still fabulous though, right?"

"More so," he answered with a broad smile.

He then dropped his chopsticks in frustration. "I don't know why I'm even trying with these," he said. "Less than half the food is making it to my mouth." Piz waved over the server to ask for a fork while Lilly laughed.

The conversation through the rest of the evening was light—they talked about classes, movies, music, the group's social plans for the rest of the weekend, and the likelihood that they would be abandoned again based on the relative success of Mac's and Wallace's dates.

"I'm saying Mac blows us off again for animal-rights guy, and Wallace shows up," Lilly said as they returned to campus and approached her car.

"Really? I'm thinking the other way around. Mac's so shy, and Wallace is, as he will gladly tell you, a player," Piz countered.

"That's exactly it," Lilly said. "Mac's taking this new guy seriously, so if things go well tonight, there's a good chance of plans with him again this weekend. Wallace's cheerleader thing is so not serious."

"You may have a point there," Piz conceded.

She wrapped her arm around his, grasping his bicep in her hand. "I think I'm glad we got ditched tonight though. I had a good time with you, Stosh Piznarski."

"I did too, _Lilly Kane_." They stopped at Lilly's BMW. "So, um, m-m-maybe we could, um, sometime, if you're free…"

"Yeah, we should do this again," she agreed.

"OK! OK, great." Piz shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot as she stood there staring at him, not moving to open her car door. "Then, I guess I'll see you, um, tomorrow maybe? I, um…"

"Oh my God—just _kiss_ me already! Jeez!"

Before he could be embarrassed, Lilly stepped toward him, tilting her head up. He leaned down to meet her and gently pressed his mouth against hers. Her lips were even softer than he expected them to be; she parted them slightly and brushed his lips with her tongue.

Suddenly a lot less nervous than he'd been a few seconds earlier, Piz cupped her face in his hands and deepened the kiss. Lilly responded by wrapping her arms around him and running her hands across his back. As he felt her nails through the fabric of his shirt, Piz's breathing quickened. He grazed his lips across her jawline and down her neck, sucking at her pulse point. She moaned in his ear and he hardened at the sound.

Lilly reached back and boosted herself onto the hood of her oversized car; Piz thought it was just to even out their height difference until she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him close. Kissing her again, he clutched her denim-clad thighs and couldn't help but think about touching the bare skin there.

When she grasped his shoulders and leaned back onto the car, pulling him down on top of her, it was almost more than Piz could take. The way she was grinding her hips into his was making him lose all rational thought.

He stood up quickly and backed away. "Wait," he gasped.

"What?" Lilly panted, pushing herself back up to a sitting position. "You don't want…"

"Not here…like this," he said, gesturing at their very public location.

"You know that being seen making out with me could do wonders for your rep," she replied with a smirk.

Piz furrowed his brow. "Lilly, it's not like that."

"I know. Sorry. Bad habit." She reached out and grabbed his belt loops, yanking him toward her again.

"No, wait." He ran his fingers through her hair as he brushed it off her shoulders, then rested his hands on her tiny waist. "I don't want you to think that I might be using you, you know—like those other guys."

"I don't think that. I wouldn't be doing this if I did." Lilly tried to kiss him again, but he didn't lean down so she could reach him. "What's the problem?"

Piz took a deep breath. "Lilly, what I mean is, I really like you—I mean, the real you I've gotten to know lately, and I don't want to mess this up."

Lilly put her hands against his chest. "You don't have to prove anything to me. I know you're a nice guy. I thought that was obvious. That's what I like about you." She paused for a few seconds and looked down. "But, you know, if you don't want this, I understand…"

"No!" Piz interrupted. "I do!" He put his hand to her cheek and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "I really do. I think this could be good—great. But I also think that if we move this fast, it would be a mistake. We haven't even been on a real date yet."

"Hey—I bought you dinner and then tried to have my way with you. That's not a date?"

He laughed. "First of all, your dad bought us dinner, and second, a default outing just because we got dumped by our friends doesn't count."

"How about tomorrow then?" Lilly suggested hopefully. "I could stand to skip out on the bowling. We'll ditch them this time."

"You're on."

She exhaled hard, making her bangs flutter. "Well, if that's the plan, then I'd better go home, because having you standing between my legs is making it hard to go slow. No pun intended," she said, leering at his crotch.

"Oh! Sorry." Piz jumped back, blushing again. He helped her down from the car and then nervously pulled his shirt down over the front of his pants.

"Good night then," Lilly said. "See you tomorrow."

"Good night." They came together for one last kiss, which quickly heated up as their tongues clashed together. As Lilly tangled her hands in his hair, Piz briefly considered moving things into the back seat of her car and tossing aside his "go slow" idea—but this time, Lilly broke off the kiss.

"You may be a nice guy, but I think there's a little bit of bad boy in there too," she breathed, tracing his mouth with her finger. "That may just be the perfect combination." She sighed loudly. "OK, now I'm really leaving."

Lilly got into her car and pulled away, pausing to give him a little wave as Piz stood in her parking space, watching her go.

He stood there for a minute, his head still spinning. The events of the evening barely felt real: The gorgeous, fascinating, complicated girl rarely wanted the nice guy, but this one wanted him. And he wanted her. Maybe being a nice guy was actually going to work out for him this time.

 _Want more? There's a sequel, from Lilly's POV: "The Things Guys Will Say" - I can't seem to create html links here, so see my profile for the link!_


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